1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and of cooling synthetic turf systems by modifying the surface tension or contact angle of the surface of the infill materials in order to enable wetting out of those materials as well as enabling capillary action within the infill matrix. The standard synthetic turf infill materials are extremely hydrophobic with high contact angle characteristics. The objective with this invention is to provide a low cost non-mechanical method to cool synthetic turf. This in turn will both improve the safety to users of synthetic as well as enhance the performance characteristics of the turf system. This invention does not increase the absorption of the infill materials but eliminated the hydrophobic aspect of the infill particles surface, which enables the interstitial and pore spaces to hold and move moisture through surface tension and capillary forces.
2. Description of the Related Art
It has long been known that the surface synthetic turf reaches extremely high temperatures sometime exceeding safety thresholds. There have been attempts to cool the synthetic turf using mechanical means, however none have been found to provide a cost effective solution. This invention harnesses the power of evaporative cooling by turning the infill materials and corresponding interstitial spaces into a network of tiny reservoirs that hold the water until enough heat energy has been applied causing the water to evaporate and the surface of the turf to cool dramatically.
The physics at work in this invention takes advantage of the ten of thousands of micro water containment spaces that created by the enclosure of the surface of the infill particles that surround these spaces. The surfaces of the infill particles also hold thin films of water through surface tension adding to the available cooling capacity. The total surface area and inter spaces of the infill in a typical athletic field is staggering. Therefore a large cooling capacity exists when this invention is applied.
Industries other than the Synthetic Turf Industries have relied on surface tension/energy modification to achieve various improvements in their products. In most cases this modification of hydrophobic surfaces has been deployed in order to increase lubriciousness and reduce friction. For example the medical industry has long used methods to modify surface tension of catheters and other tools in order to reduce trauma as the tool is being used on the patient. The metal working industry has also used surface tension modification coating to reduce heat and friction between tool and subject. Hydrophilic coatings have also found there way into the optometry business to coat lenses and tools, again in order to reduce trauma to the patient. Yet another examples of effective use of hydrophilic surface modification is in the building trades applied to create self-cleaning surfaces.
Thus, what is needed is an environmentally-friendly, cost-effective, non-toxic, means of sustaining evaporative cooling of synthetic turf surfaces during athletic activity and anytime there is strong radiant solar heat present in order to provide safety to players and reduce the impact the urban heat island.